Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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1. International agreements ° Community agreements ° Direct effect ° Conditions ° Rules concerning the origin of products in the Protocol annexed to the Additional Protocol to the EEC-Cyprus Association Agreement

(EEC-Cyprus Association Agreement, Additional Protocol and Protocol annexed thereto)

2. International agreements ° EEC-Cyprus Association Agreement ° Preferential arrangements for agricultural products originating from Cyprus ° Originating status of products ° Evidence ° Movement certificate ° Issue by authorities other than the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus ° Not permissible

(EEC-Cyprus Association Agreement, Additional Protocol and Protocol annexed thereto)

3. Approximation of laws ° Protection of plant health ° Directive 77/93 ° Introduction of plants into the Community ° Conditions governing permissibility ° Issue of phytosanitary certificate by the authorities of the exporting country empowered for that purpose ° Importation of agricultural products from Cyprus ° Issue of certificates by authorities other than the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus ° Not permissible

(Council Directive 77/93)

Summary

1. A provision in an agreement concluded by the Community with non-member countries must be regarded as having direct effect when, regard being had to its wording and the purpose and nature of the agreement itself, the provision contains a clear and precise obligation which is not subject, in its implementation or effects, to the adoption of any subsequent measure.

Such is the case of the rules in the Protocol concerning the definition of the concept of "originating products" and methods of administrative cooperation annexed to the Additional Protocol to the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Cyprus, which provide that evidence of the originating status of products is given by a movement certificate to be issued by the customs authorities of the exporting State and in particular that it is the responsibility of those customs authorities to ensure that the forms in question are duly completed.

Those rules concerning the origin of products lay down clear, precise and unconditional obligations with regard to determining which products can be covered by the agreement and thus benefit from preferential treatment.

2. The Agreement establishing an Association between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Cyprus, together with the Protocols thereto, which provide for preferential arrangements for citrus fruits and potatoes originating from Cyprus, and, more specifically, the Protocol concerning the definition of the concept of "originating products" and methods of administrative cooperation annexed to the Additional Protocol to the Agreement, pursuant to which evidence of the originating status of products is given by a movement certificate to be issued by the customs authorities of the exporting State, must be interpreted as precluding acceptance by the national authorities of a Member State, when citrus fruit and potatoes are imported from the part of Cyprus to the north of the United Nations Buffer Zone, of movement certificates issued by authorities other than the competent authorities of the Republic of Cyprus.

While the de facto partition of the territory of Cyprus, as a result of the intervention of the Turkish armed forces in 1974, into a zone where the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus continue fully to exercise their powers and a zone where they cannot in fact do so raises problems that are difficult to resolve in connection with the application of the Association Agreement to the whole of Cyprus, that does not warrant a departure from the clear, precise and unconditional provisions of the Protocol on the origin of products and administrative cooperation.

In that connection, the system whereby movement certificates are regarded as evidence of the origin of products is founded on the principle of mutual reliance and cooperation between the competent authorities of the exporting State and those of the importing State. Acceptance of certificates by the customs authorities of the importing State reflects their total confidence in the system of checking the origin of products as implemented by the competent authorities of the exporting State. It also shows that the importing State is in no doubt that subsequent verification, consultation and settlement of any disputes in respect of the origin of products or the existence of fraud will be carried out efficiently with the cooperation of the authorities concerned.

A system of that kind cannot therefore function properly unless the procedures for administrative cooperation are strictly complied with. However, such cooperation is excluded with the authorities of an entity such as that established in the northern part of Cyprus, which is recognized neither by the Community nor by the Member States; the only Cypriot State they recognize is the Republic of Cyprus.

In those circumstances, the acceptance of movement certificates not issued by the Republic of Cyprus would constitute, in the absence of any possibility of checks or cooperation, a denial of the very object and purpose of the system established by the said Protocol.

That finding can be invalidated neither by the principle that the Association Agreement must apply, according to the terms of Article 5, in a non-discriminatory manner to the whole population of Cyprus, nor by a practice which the Commission and some Member States may unilaterally have introduced following the de facto partition of the territory of Cyprus.

3. Directive 77/93 on protective measures against the introduction into the Member States of organisms harmful to plants or plant products, which establishes a common system aimed at preventing the introduction into the Member States of plants or plant products from non-member countries when certain conditions are not satisfied, one of those conditions being that the plant or plant product in question should be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the authorities empowered to do so on the basis of laws or regulations of the exporting country, must be interpreted as precluding acceptance by the national authorities of a Member State, when citrus fruit and potatoes are imported from the part of Cyprus to the north of the United Nations Buffer Zone, of phytosanitary certificates issued by authorities other than the competent authorities of the Republic of Cyprus.

The common system laid down in the directive is based essentially on a system of checks carried out by experts lawfully empowered for that purpose by the Government of the exporting State and guaranteed by the issue of the appropriate phytosanitary certificate. The conditions governing acceptance of those certificates as a uniform means of proof must consequently be absolutely identical in all the Member States. Checks at the frontier on products from non-member countries which may be carried out by importing Member States in practice have significant limitations and, in any event, cannot take the place of phytosanitary certificates. Furthermore, since any difficulty or doubt concerning a certificate must be brought to the attention of the authorities of the exporting State by the importing Member State, that cooperation, which is necessary in order to achieve the objectives of the directive, cannot be established with authorities who are not recognized either by the Community or by its Member States.